We're going to starch and iron shirts in the Golden Era way. We want to achieve a level of stiffness unobtainable with spray starch. We need to use a solution of starch and water, submerge the shirts, wring them out, then press them after they have dried to an alarming...

The Fedora Lounge Guide to Stiffly Starched Shirts, Grandma's Way]]>4The History of Hunting Clothes, a Fedora Lounge GuideThu, 24 Dec 2015 01:12:16 +0000https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/the-history-of-hunting-clothes-a-fedora-lounge-guide.84519/
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/the-history-of-hunting-clothes-a-fedora-lounge-guide.84519/invalid@example.com (Dinerman)Dinerman
The story begins with businessman Quentin McAdam (b.1851, d. 1919). McAdam started with his uncle's company, Buckingham & Mitchell in 1867. By 1879, he bought out the company and renamed it, Quentin McAdam, wholesale notions. The company went through a series of partnerships and buyouts, becoming McAdam & Hart, then McAdam & Rathbun, then Rathbun & Company after...

Around here, we all love our WW2 flying jackets and the A2 in particular.
And some of us also love the nose- and jacket-art that adorned the fighters and bombers of the era too and the squadron patches and the fighter/bomb group patches and the pin-up girls and the names of the aircraft and even the colours and fonts - it all evokes a certain appeal of that era.
As a result, perhaps you have thought of wishing you would like to...

How To Paint On Leather Jackets: A Guide]]>9Vintage watch designs, an introductionThu, 06 Aug 2015 21:57:57 +0000https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/vintage-watch-designs-an-introduction.82930/
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/vintage-watch-designs-an-introduction.82930/invalid@example.com (Rabbit)Rabbit
I thought I'd post an overview of vintage watch designs of the period from the late 20s, when wristwatch production was finally approaching a consistently high quality standard, until WWII, after which the designs slowly began a...

Vintage watch designs, an introduction]]>4Buyer's Guide for Purchasing Your First Typewriter: A Fedora Lounge Guide.Tue, 03 Jun 2014 22:53:57 +0000https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/buyers-guide-for-purchasing-your-first-typewriter-a-fedora-lounge-guide.77900/
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/buyers-guide-for-purchasing-your-first-typewriter-a-fedora-lounge-guide.77900/invalid@example.com (Hemingway Jones)Hemingway JonesBuyer's Guide for Purchasing Your First Typewriter: A Fedora Lounge Guide.View attachment 14599
There is something immensely satisfying in the tap-tapping of a manual typewriter, the ring of the bell, the physical act of advancing the carriage return to the next line, of watching the keys strike the page and returning as your sentences print instantly across a real page. It’s easy to get hooked. Also, typewriters are such a rarity in the text-driven...

Buyer's Guide for Purchasing Your First Typewriter: A Fedora Lounge Guide.]]>Grizzly Jackets: A Fedora Lounge GuideMon, 03 Mar 2014 16:24:24 +0000https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/grizzly-jackets-a-fedora-lounge-guide.76624/
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/grizzly-jackets-a-fedora-lounge-guide.76624/invalid@example.com (Dinerman)Dinerman
It was also expensive, and could be fragile. Sheeplined coats took the form of the fur coats, but...

NOTE: This guide will utilize liner tips and factory labels, and to a certain extent, sweatband stamps, to date Dobbs hats to within a decade, or within a few years, as the case may be. It is by no means comprehensive. There are multiple variation of all liners, labels, and stamps used throughout the years, and this guide only touches on a few that seem to be common.

A double-breasted coat made of blue woolen fabric. May be water repellent treated and fitted with removable sleeveless liner. Extends one-third the distance from kneecap to ground, shaped at waist, held by a two...

The Fedora Lounge Guide to The U.S. Navy Bridge Coat]]>11Zipper dating: A Fedora Lounge GuideThu, 12 Sep 2013 05:30:22 +0000https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/zipper-dating-a-fedora-lounge-guide.73890/
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/zipper-dating-a-fedora-lounge-guide.73890/invalid@example.com (Dinerman)Dinerman
A variety of components comprise a single zipper. Each component had a number of different versions, some of which may come down...

Zipper dating: A Fedora Lounge Guide]]>Sheeplined Coats: a Fedora Lounge guideThu, 12 Sep 2013 04:53:14 +0000https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/sheeplined-coats-a-fedora-lounge-guide.73888/
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/sheeplined-coats-a-fedora-lounge-guide.73888/invalid@example.com (Dinerman)DinermanSheeplined Coats: a Fedora Lounge guide]]>2Dating Woolrich Coats: A Fedora Lounge GuideThu, 12 Sep 2013 00:18:13 +0000https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/dating-woolrich-coats-a-fedora-lounge-guide.73889/
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/dating-woolrich-coats-a-fedora-lounge-guide.73889/invalid@example.com (Dinerman)DinermanStill produced today, it has changed very little over the past century. This can make dating your vintage Woolrich coat a challenge. Adding to the confusion, Woolrich used different variations of the basic label in their print advertising which did not...

The Hudson's Bay Company introduced their distinctive striped "point" trade blanket in 1780. The blankets were used in the fur trade, traded in exchange for pelts. The "points" represented the size and weight of the blanket. The blankets were soon being tailored...

The Fedora Lounge Guide to Blanket Mackinaws]]>2The History of Zippers in menswearThu, 13 Jun 2013 03:43:32 +0000https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/the-history-of-zippers-in-menswear.72389/
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/the-history-of-zippers-in-menswear.72389/invalid@example.com (Dinerman)Dinerman
In 1891, Whitcomb L. Judson invented the direct ancestor to the zipper, a new fastener for shoes and boots. He called it the "clasp locket or locket for shoes." In 1893, Colonel Lewis Walker saw this new fastener at the Chicago World's fair, and saw its potential. He backed the invention, and in 1894 formed the Universal Fastener Company. The Fastener Manufacturing Machine Company later came into being to improve the design of the fastener, and to devise a way to mass produce...

The History of Zippers in menswear]]>2A Guide to FabricsTue, 28 May 2013 02:40:22 +0000https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/a-guide-to-fabrics.72069/
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/a-guide-to-fabrics.72069/invalid@example.com (Dinerman)Dinerman

Originally published 1906, I have transcribed this dictionary of textiles from the revised 1925 edition of Textiles and Clothing, by Kate Heintz Watson, revised by Charlotte Gibbs Baker.

As with all other guides for dating vintage clothes, always use a variety of methods when attempting to assess a garment's date of manufacture. While there is a fairly continuous base of ads and dated examples to draw upon, with changes of labels, there is always overlap of the old and the new. And as with anything else, there are usually a variety of variations (the Palm Beach Beau Brummell ties spring to mind) for any...

Mackinaw fabric, as well as mackinaw coats, trace their name back to blankets used in the fur trade by the Mackinaw Fur Company, headquartered at Fort Mackinac. As with the point blankets made by the Hudson's Bay Company, Mackinaw blankets were made in an array of bright colors and...

The Fedora Lounge Guide to Mackinaw Coats]]>1The Fedora Lounge Guide to Union LabelsThu, 09 May 2013 03:05:45 +0000https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/the-fedora-lounge-guide-to-union-labels.72056/
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/the-fedora-lounge-guide-to-union-labels.72056/invalid@example.com (Dinerman)DinermanThe Fedora Lounge Guide to Union Labels]]>2The Fedora Lounge Guide to Dating the United States Navy PeacoatSat, 24 Nov 2012 22:11:01 +0000https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/the-fedora-lounge-guide-to-dating-the-united-states-navy-peacoat.72058/
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/the-fedora-lounge-guide-to-dating-the-united-states-navy-peacoat.72058/invalid@example.com (Peacoat)Peacoat
I first became interested in vintage Navy peacoats while trying to replace a coat my brother-in-law had given me in about 1971 when he got out of the Navy.

Initially, I bought two of them, one at an Army Navy surplus store and one on EBay. Neither had the same outer shell finish as the original one I had liked so well.

Research showed there were no good reference sources for verifying the provenance of these fine coats.